Badi Elaichi/बडी इलायची/Amomum Subulatum/Greater Cardamom/Vrihat Ela

Hindi Name:Badi elaichi

Sanskrit Name:Vrihat Ela

English Name:Greater Cardamom

Latin Name:Amomum subulatum Pennel

This is a splendid plant from shady slopes on the Himalayas of Sikkim and Nepal. With long, erect, red stems generously clad with bright green leaves, it bears at the base of the plant a long succession of interesting yellow flowers, each a couple of inches or so across. A spicy, cardamom-like fruit follows these

A clustering ginger with stems growing up to 5ft tall. Leaves are found on the upper portion of the stem. This is an evergreen plant with the old stems dying down after a few years. The rhizomes are a dull red in color. Flower buds appear in spring from the base of the rhizome. The peduncle is short and the buds encased in tight red bracts. Flowers appear from spring through mid summer. Individual flowers stay open for three days and more and new ones open successively. An inflorescence stays in flower for over a month..

Badi Elaichi Medicinal Uses

It has been traditionally used as an appetizer, a digestant as well as an antispasmodic as recommended by Indian Ayurveda. It stimulates the heart and has also been used as an expectorant. The seeds are also used as constituents of mouthwashes.

Chemical Composition

The seeds contain 3% of an essential oil, which is dominated by 1,8-cineol (more that 70%). Smaller and variable amounts of limonene, terpinene, terpineol, terpinyl acetate and sabinene have also been reported.